Nakai Penny
{{short description|Canadian rugby union player}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox rugby biography
| name = Nakai Penny
| image =
| birth_name = Nakai Penny
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1996|04|04|df=y}}
| birth_place = Penticton, British Columbia
| height = {{height|m=1.90}}
| weight = {{convert|98|kg|lb|abbr=on}}
| school = Penticton Secondary
| university = University of British Columbia
| ru_currentposition = Flanker
| ru_currentteam = Seattle Seawolves
| position = Flanker
| amatyears1 = 2014-17
| amatyears2 = 2017
| amatteam1 = UBC Thunderbirds
| amatteam2 = Westshore RFC
| amatapps1 =
| amatpoints1 =
| ru_amupdate =
| ru_currentclub =
| years1 = 2018-
| clubs1 = Seattle Seawolves
| apps1 = 25
| points1 = 15
| ru_clubupdate = 5 February 2022
| superyears1 =
| super1 =
| superapps1 =
| superpoints1 =
| super14update =
| provinceyears1 = 2017
| province1 = British Columbia Bears
| provinceapps1 = 1
| provincepoints1 = 0
| repyears1 = 2016
| repyears2 = 2019-
| repteam1 = Canada U20
| repteam2 = Canada
| repcaps1 = 1
| repcaps2 = 3
| reppoints1 = 0
| reppoints2 = 0
| ru_ntupdate = 23 February 2019
}}
Nakai Penny (born 4 April 1996) is a Canadian rugby union player who plays for Seattle Seawolves in Major League Rugby (MLR). His usual position is flanker ({{as of|2018}}).
Penny previously played for the University of British Columbia Thunderbirds and Westshore RFC in the BC Premier League competition.
Early life
Penny was born in Penticton, British Columbia in the southern interior of British Columbia. He played his high school rugby with the Penticton Secondary Lakers. In 2014 Penny moved to Vancouver to play for the UBC Thunderbirds rugby squad.{{cite web|url=http://www.seattleseawolves.com/players/nakai-penny|title=Profile|date=|work=|accessdate=25 June 2018}}
Rugby career
Penny played three seasons with the University of British Columbia, winning three consecutive Rounsefell Cups, the British Columbia provincial championship. Following his career with UBC, Penny suited up with Westshore RFC in the British Columbia Premiership. In 2017 he was selected to play for the BC Bears squad in the Canadian Rugby Championship. BC went on to win their first MacTier Cup in eight years.
In 2016, Penny was selected to represent the Canadian under-20 side in the 2016 World Rugby Under 20 Trophy qualifier against the United States. He started at openside flanker for the Canadians. The American side converted a long range penalty on the last play of the game to take a 19-18 win.{{cite web|url=http://www.americasrugbynews.com/2016/02/14/cima-kicks-all-americans-to-famous-victory/|title=Cima kicks All-Americans to famous victory|date= 14 February 2016|work=|accessdate=25 June 2018}}
On 3 January 2018 it was announced that Penny would be joining the Seattle Seawolves for their inaugural season in Major League Rugby.{{cite web|url=http://www.seattleseawolves.com/news/seattle-seawolves-sign-former-ubc-thunderbird-nakai-penny?A=SearchResult&SearchID=11617285&ObjectID=5194990&ObjectType=35|title=
Seattle Seawolves Sign Former UBC Thunderbird Nakai Penny|date= 3 January 2018|work=|accessdate=25 June 2018}}
Club statistics
{{updated|11 February 2022}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; line-height:100%; font-size:100%; width:70%;" | |||||||||||
| Season | Team | Games | Starts | Sub | Tries | Cons | Pens | Drops | Points | Yel | Red |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MLR 2018 | rowspan="5"|Seattle Seawolves | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| MLR 2019 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| MLR 2020 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | 0 | |
| MLR 2021 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| MLR 2022 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | |
| colspan="2"|Total || 27 || 21 || 6 || 4 || 0 || 0 || 0 || 20 || 1 || 0 |